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The Black Within One's Heart
The sun was setting over the horizon as Akemi made her way over the hill. From this point on the trail, she could see the final mountain range between her and The Hidden Leaf Village. Once there, she would immediately find an inn and begin recuperating from the grueling day. Despite taking time to rest after her battle with Sigma Uchiha, she was far from a hundred percent and her muscles yearned for a well deserved rest. Akemi looked as worn out as she felt, her ANBU style uniform tattered form the fight and her skin showing similar wear. Her smeared face paint was beginning to rub off, creating a dark line across her face that resembled that of a raccoon. Despite the toll the battle had taken on her, the biggest blow was to her pride, now owing Simga Uchiha a favor for releasing her form the Genjutsu that she had unknowingly fallen under. That left a question that had plagued Akemi's mind since the battle, who had sent her the Genjutsu trap? As Akemi made her way over the peak of the hill, something seemingly changed in the air. Akemi halted, quickly twisting around to see if someone was behind her. Nothing. Regardless, Akemi couldn't help but feel uneasy. The girl's fragile body seemed as though it had been battered quite a bit to the eyes of Sayuri Uchiha. Her previous battle against the entity feared as Sigma Uchiha had certainly peeked the woman's interest, so much so that she considered watching the feeble child's every move afterwards, following her into the depths of the valley on her return to Konohagakure. She took notice of her wounds, having witnessed quite the performance moments earlier. She had proven herself in battle, to have fought on par with the likes of her half brother. Sayuri was thoroughly impressed with the girl's skill level to say the very least. Making herself comfortable on a nearby boulder, Sayuri waved to get Akemi's attention. Her right leg was crossed tightly over her left, revealing her plump thighs and fair skin from beneath her kimono. The top half was covered by a coat, only for it to be blown open by a sudden breeze, displaying the woman's large cleavage. Her hair flew back as well, making her crimson eyes presentable. She smiled warmly, before greeting the wounded warrior. "Hello!" She called out, almost as if Akemi were her own child. The tone suggested they had known each other for years, sharing some sort of mother-daughter relationship. For Sayuri to show her face was a rarity, her complexion most frequently covered by her face mask. However, this was one of the few exceptions, for whatever reason Sayuri may have had. Akemi whipped around at the sight of the woman, her hand sliding over to the handle of her kukri. The woman didn't appear to be dressed for battle, her dark kimono and casual tone giving the impression she was ready for a date more so than combat. Disregarding the woman's appearance, Akemi kept her guard raised, attempting to mask her fatigue. As far as she knew, this woman had been the one to place the mysterious genjutsu upon her and force her against Sigma. There was no telling the woman's intentions, but there was something about the woman that Akemi instantly mistrusted. "Who are you?" Akemi demanded, her tone hard and serious. Sayuri smiled warmly once more, this time closing her eyes and revealing her clear cut dimples along her pronounced cheekbones. She ran a hand through her hair, suggesting she had no intention of partaking in combat. "For now, consider me... a friend." She stated, unfolding her legs and slowly rising to her feet. As she stood, the kimono fell over, covering whatever skin she had been displaying "unintentionally" earlier. She began to walk forward and towards Akemi ever so slowly. "I'm quite impressed with your level of skill..." She continued, her hands falling into he coat and onto her waist. With each step the woman took forward, Akmei took a careful step backwards, keeping her eyes fixated on every slight movement the woman made. The woman's reference to Akmei's combat abilities suggested she had observed the recent battle with Sigma, only strengthening the assumption that his woman had been the one to place the genjutsu on Akemi. But this only raised more question, such as who the mysterious woman was and why she was so interested in Akemi. "Just what sort of friend are you?" Akemi asked, the edge to her voice slightly smoothing over. Sayuri took pride in her fearful presence, continuing to push forth until she was mere inches away from Akemi. She halted to a sudden stop, running a hand through her luscious brown hair before peering down at the young woman. "A friend who can help you realize your true potential." She said, before raising her finger and attempting to place it agaisnt Akemi's chest. "A power of mine allows me to sense the disturbance in others. You seem to possess a dark side, the likes of which I've never quite seen before." Akemi jumped back as the woman's hand reached out, fearing even touching the woman. With some distance placed between them, Akmei drew her kukri from its sheath, glaring menacingly at the woman. "Don't touch me." Akemi growled. "What are you babbling about? You can tell me from where you stand." Akmei maintained her battle stance, but her body was resisting. The burns on her left arm shot out waves of pain whenever Akemi moved. Her aching muscles felt strained and demanded rest. Akemi ignored her body's ware and maintained her stance, appearing solid as stone to the untrained eye. Sayuri's elegant smile faded from her face. Using her metallic prowess, which allowed her to take command of even preexisting metals, Sayuri forced the tool within Akemi's grasp to betray her. Without lifting so much as a muscle, Sayuri commanded the blade of the weapon to bend and slice at the girl's chest. Unaware of Sayuri's powers, and having taken precaution to distance herself accordingly, the girl surely would not see such an attack coming her way. As the blade set itself to inflict damage upon it's wielder, Sayuri would then thrust forward, a staff forging in her left hand instantaneously. As the girl would have been menacing from the previous assault, Sayuri would use it to her advantage, stabbing the rod through the girl's shoulder and into the ground. She would then proceed to kicking the girl's body to the ground, peering down at her with her crimson eyes. All of this would have been done without the intention to kill, but rather to constrict the girl's movements. "Do not point your weapon at me, girl." Sayuri would have said, turning the staff to inflict further pain upon Akemi. "I won't hesitate to take your life. As it is, you are in no condition to partake in any sort of battle." Sayuri would have also said, referring to her battered condition and depleted chakra reserves. She awaited a response from the girl, who would have undoubtedly been in a great deal of pain, wondering if she would have given up all attempts at fighting back. Akemi was indeed taken off guard by her kukri seemingly coming to life and attacking her. The phenomenon almost felt like a betrayal, the weapon having been crafted by her masters and aiding her is so many battles. The blade began making it's way towards Akemi's chest, only slowed by Akemi's attempt to maintain control of it. The diamond edged blade made contact with Akemi's mesh armor vest, slowed my the thick material but not stopped. Akemi felt a piercing pain in her chest as the blade finally stopped as it contacted Akemi's breastbone. Distracted by the betrayal of her trusty kukri, Akemi barely had time to register the mysterious woman's follow up attack. The staff had formed in the woman's hand near instantaneously, the ability recognized by Akemi as the rare Metal Release Kekkei Tota, and ability Akemi had only contended with once in her life time. Akemi spun to the side, the metal rod leaving a shallow cut across her shoulder. Although she successfully evaded the rod, Akemi was unable to manuver enough to evade the woman's kick, and was harshly knocked to the ground, the woman landing on top of her abdomen. Refusing to be pinned so quickly, Akemi quickly pulsed her Earth Nature chakra into the ground, turning it into fine sand, and falling into the soil. Holding onto the woman's foot, Akemi attempted to drag the entire leg into the ground, effectively trapping it as the soil returned to its regular state. As the ground beneath her began to give way, Sayuri empowered the other with chakra, plummeting her heel against the ground. A large blast ensued, sending large boulders one way and small pebbles another. The sheer force of the chakra enhanced stomp resulted in a miniature earthquake, allowing Sayuri to free herself immediately, while also leaving the battlefield blinded with by a thick cloud of dust. As Akemi had essentially merged with the ground temporarily, and being present within it during the assault, she would likely feel take upon the full force of the damage. As Sayuri waited for the dust to clear, she twirled her newly crafted staff in her hands, relying on her refined sensing abilities to see where she would come up from next, if at all. A dozen meters below the surface Akemi, lay below a thick shield of diamond, gently holding her burned arm and trying to regain her composure after the destructive attack form the woman. Having been underground at the time of the attack, Akemi had no idea what sort of technique the woman had used to cause so much damage so quickly. It certainly wasn't Metal Release. Akemi instantly recalled the chakra enhanced strength possessed by the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Could the woman have possessed the same ability? It would certainly explain the diamond shaped mark on her forehead. So not only was Akemi's enemy a Metal Release user, but she also possessed the Strength of a Hundred Seal. This was certainly not good, as Metal Release alone was a challenging ability to contend with. Considering both abilities, getting close to her adversary would be unwise. This was have to going to have to turn into a ranged battle for Akemi to have any chance of survival. There was of course also the issue of Akemi's chakra reserves. She had depleted most of her chakra battling Sigma and had not yet recovered. Akemi had one chance to end the battle, leaving herself in an extremely vulnerable state should it fail. Akemi quikly formed the Mi hand seal, utilizing her Earth Release: Mountain High Pillar technique. A large stone pillar formed underneath the woman's feet, forcing her high up into the air. The pillar quickly reached the height of 50 meters, Akemi only bringing the pillar to half its usual height to conserve chakra. Akemi now formed a series of quick hand seals, unleashing a spiraling stream of fire up through the cracks in the earth, wrapping themselves around the pillar and towards the woman perched on top. The ground beneath Sayuri suddenly began to quake, and within a moments notice, a large pillar emerged, elevating Sayuri into the sky. As she ascended higher and higher into the sky, Sayuri's skin hardened, forming a durable steel armor. Furthermore, she surrounded herself in metallic sphere, before lighting herself on fire and diving into the pillar. As it had been produced from earth and not the usual diamond, Sayuri was able to rip through it with ease, as well as being able to repel the incoming flames with the metallic sphere. In the time it would have taken Akemi to finish her attack, Sayuri had already blown through it, exploding down to the very bottom of the pillar where Akemi would have been. Using Kamui's intangibility factor, she detonated the same sphere she had trapped herself inside, leaving Akemi within point blank range of the blast. As the sheer force of the woman's attack ripped apart the stone pillar, Akemi instantly knew she was in trouble. Not having time to create an adequate offense, Akemi had to settle for increasing the thickness of her Diamond Shield and hoping her Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique would be enough to prevent her from being crushed against the rocks below. As the attack plowed through the ground, it forcefully slammed into Akemi's Diamond Shield, pushing it down further into the earth, Akemi directly beneath it. The shield's surface area was enough to slow the powerful attack and eventually stop it, but not before Akemi was driven nearly ten meters further below the surface. Despite the efforts of he Earth Release, Akemi felt hard rock being pressed unto her back. Had it not been for her unnaturally durable body, Akemi's spine may have snapped under the immense pressure. The burns on her left arm however, radiated intense pain throughout the duration of the attack. Even after the intense impact, the attack was not over. A massive explosion erupted from the other side of diamond shield. Although the diamond held under the force of the blast, the concussive force did more than a fair share of damage. As the debris of the blast cleared, Akemi released her diamond shield, more or less unable to sustain even the basic technique any longer, allowing it to disperse into a mist fading sparkles. Akemi dragged her body out of small sub crater that her body had made. Her vision was blurred and her ears were still ringing from the blast, but the damage around her was apparent. The crater was at least 40 meters deep, spanning nearly double that length. Akemi staggered forward, unsure of where she was going. Blood escaped both her mouth, indicating internal bleeding, and a gash on her forehead that masked much of the right side of Akemi's face with blood, already caked over from the heat of the blast. The pain radiating from her body made the fatigue she had been feeling only minute prior seem like minor pains. She could no longer feel her left arm, unsure whether or not it was broken or the nerves themselves had simply grown tired. Akemi struggled to stagger in a straight line, stumbling to wither side as she moved. Akemi had barely made it 10 meters before loosing her footing and collapsing, barely managing to get her one good arm under her body to cushion her fall. Defeated. The word radiated throughout Akemi's mind like a disaponited parent, or at least Akemi's impression of what having a disappointed parent was like. Years. Years had gone into her training, almost her entire life, no; her entire existence was dedicated to being the strongest she could possibly be. Even before she even existed, that was what she was meant to be, the strongest possible weapon she could be. A man made weapon. Ever since she could remember, Hādo Sensei, Manami Sensei and Yoru Sensei had been training her, in some ways even before she could walk. She had pledged her loyalty to all of them and remained loyal, even after Hādo Sensei's and Manami' Sensei's deaths, she maintained her pledge of loyalty to them, as she would the day Yoru Sensei passed. She pledged to become strong, for them, as she was designed to be. Her strength would protect the good people of the Leaf, all the good people of the Land of Fire and all the good people of the shinobi world. Now she couldn't even protect herself. Akemi pushed herself up to her hands and knees, her head tucked down as she commanded her body to continue with little success. Akemi had never considered the possibility of death. Not on any of her high risk mission, not even battling opponents such as the likes of Sannoto Senju and Sigma Uchiha. Now death seemed so close, just peering around the corner and watching for the moment Akemi was ready. Even if this was the end for her, Akemi was still going to keep her promises. She was going to remain strong, for her masters, for the Leaf, for all those who devote their lives to the same things Akemi had. At least that way, when the last drop of life was squeezed from her body, she would be able to face Hādo and Manami, to tell them she kept her promise. Through the dust, a figure emerged, approaching the defeated Akemi. Step after step, Sayuri drew further, with Akemi's kukri in hand, having found it lying on the ground during the altercation. She stood before the girl, watching as she tried time after time again to get back to her feet and fight again. Sayuri smiled, acknowledging the girl's efforts. "It's best you remain seated. Had you been in better condition.. no. You still would not have been a match for me." She declared, a grin appearing on the side of her face. It was just as she had wanted, just as she had hoped. A powerful kunoichi who never gave up on herself. Who never sat still, no matter the difference between her and the opponent. It was beyond Akemi to roll over and die, no matter how much more powerful Sayuri was than her. This is exactly what Sayuri had been looking for through the course of the battle; searching for someone who had the will to fight despite a grueling situation. "You remind me of my former self. For whom do you fight?" She began, before tearing the blade off the hilt of the kukri. "You've convinced yourself it's for the sake of the village, but in reality.. you did it for yourself. You wish to get stronger, that is your goal. You desire nothing more from this cruel world aside from it." Sayuri went on, as a new blade formed from the hilt. She threw it down, allowing the blade to bury itself into the ground beside Akemi. She turned around, taking a step forward. She came to a sudden stop, turning only her head to look at Akemi. "In my absence, question why exactly it was that I chose to spare your life... and if it truly is power you desire..." She aimed her palm at Akemi, releasing a blast of chakra her way. The chakra was a concentrated beam of mystical energy, emitted normally through the palm to help others recuperate. Sayuri's prowess allowed her to do so from a distance. Seeing as though she was no longer able to continue fighting, the beam would reach Akemi with ease, spreading throughout her body in an effort to heal her wounds. It was not magic, but it would be enough to provide the girl with enough strength to return to the village on her own two legs within a few hours. "I've already shared some of my power with you. Consider yourself in debt. If you wish to gain a level of power beyond what that village can offer you, come find me." Sayuri offered her parting words, before beginning to walk away slowly. A pondering statement, Akemi may wonder just as to how she would be able to find the woman, though Sayuri's words suggested, that in due time, they would undoubtedly meet again. She disappeared off into a nearby forest, her chakra signature vanishing completely. Akemi forced herself up onto her feet, her legs still aching, but other wise fine. A look of both frustration and confusion consumed Akemi's face. Who had that woman been? For what reason did she target Akemi? Why did she spare Akemi when the battle was all but won? All these questions and more corrupted Akemi's thoughts. So many questions with no answers. With the woman gone, it was unlikely Akemi was to find any answers. Pulling her kukri from the scared earth, inspecting the metal the woman had formed. It was flawless, and likely a slightly harder steel than the original blade. It may have lacked the diamond edge of the previous model, but Akemi could easily change that. Inspecting the blade, Akemi noticed something in the metal just above the hilt. A small heard, darker colored than the rest of the blade, was engraved into the metal. Akemi stared at the heart for a full minute before breaking her gaze. Her sheath having been destroyed, Akemi held the lade tightly in her hand as she began walking up the side of the crater, towards the Hidden Leaf. The Return Home